Elden Ring

[baelthazar]

It took me a TON of tries, but I finally beat Margit the Fell Omen. For a LOT of those tries, I had forgotten I could summon the Sorcerer Rogier (still managed to knock him down by half). I went Astrologer, so I cheesed my way through by summoning Ashen Wolves and pinging him with Glintstone Pebbles from across the bridge.

An INT/DEX magic build has been a mixed bag. For trash mobs, I can kill them with almost no effort or risk by shooting pebbles from a distance. I farmed those giant crabs on the beach with pebbles to get quick level ups (10 kills = 3000 ruins, and it only takes a few minutes). It is far less risky than other farming methods and easy to get to at low levels.

But now that I am in the castle, magic seems far less useful. The more advanced Glintstone sorceries are not particularly an upgrade over pebble, which is a disappointment. Carian Blade is pretty good, but Phalanx hasn't been as exciting as I hoped. I'm getting stuck at the Knight in the castle (although he seems to be intentionally hard at this point).

I think Elden Ring is the most I have ever played of a FromSoftware game. It ticks some sort of mental box that appeals to me far more than the other DS games.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

Glintstone pebbles is still my go to spell. I got a spell that throws three rocks that does more damage, can hit multiple enemies, and can stagger, but it costs a lot more FP. And glintstone one hits most basic enemies.

[hepcat]

Yeah, the George RR Martin involvement is why I thought there’d be a story for this one. But no need to derail the thread just for me! I’m glad the game is so awesome for most of you! I only broke my silence in the thread to give Smoove and Pyper a counterpoint since they were on the fence.

The Souls games hide their story within NPC interactions, boss battles and landmarks...which is why I also find Martin's involvement to be odd. That's not how he does things. This isn't a heavily narrative driven series of games. Heck, the story comes across as a distant third or fourth to the combat and the leveling mechanics.

Also, this is not a game series one should play if on antidepressants. My god these things are bleak.

I don't want to re-do something 37 times until I figure out the exact perfect combo of dodge/roll/lite strike/roll/heavy strike/turn/parry/spin to get to get through a door.

You'll need to study bosses to figure out their move set before defeating them quite often. So I would wait for this to be on sale and then pick it up.

[Octavious]

I'm leaning towards wait for a sale as well. Exploration is top notch in this game, but ya you are going to run into things that will be a hinderance to doing that. Like dragons.... Giant trees... Bears that eat your face... You 100 can just turn around and go somewhere else, but at some point there's some bad people that need to be put down. And those fights can be difficult. And I think there's a story? There's like dudes places that things happened to and I have to kill them. That's about how much I care.

[Smoove_B]

All appreciated. Green Man has it for $50 schmeckles, so that'll be the low bar to beat!

[coopasonic]

Literally the only soulslike game on gamepass is Mortal Shell

Do we have a vomit emoji?

[Scraper]

[coopasonic]

The prospect of needing to grind to be successful is probably the thing that’s going to make me give up, though.

To be fair, that’s literally been the case for every single game in the series. It’s like complaining that the Battlefield games have guns.

To be even fairer, every one of these games have videos of players beating everything in the game with a level 1 naked character using a club. Apparently you just aren't good enough (same with 99.87% of us).

[hepcat]

True. I am not a part of the 1 percent that are inhuman gaming machines. I have to grind...as the game developers intended.

[stimpy]

For those of you who, like me, will NEVER use parry successfully and you want to use a shield while still using your special weapon skill, here's a tip:

Spoiler:

Go to the warshack (one of the golden light places) and talk to the warmaster. he can sell you an ashes that has no effect whatsoever. Costs like 600 souls only. Equip that on a shield with parry. Viola. You can now press the left trigger (on xbox) to use your main weapon Ashes skill without going two handed with it.

Spoiler:

I bought this and have a shield with parry, Red Thorn Roundshield. How do I apply it?

[Scuzz]

The option should come up under “War Ashes” (or something like that) while sitting at a site of grace.

[hepcat]

Yup, just sit down at a site of grace and open up the Ashes of War option. Then apply it to your shield.

[TheMix]

Didn't someone here get advised to jump off a cliff on the first day or so of playing?

Penny Arcade has you covered.

https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2022/03/04

[hepcat]

And Margit just went down. It was actually pretty easy after I got the

Spoiler:

Bloodhound Fang. My God is that thing great. The skill does a full heavy attack and then jumps you back out of range. Margit was actually a breeze with this, the jellyfish and the sorcerer. I think I beat him in like 2 minutes.

[naednek]

Didn't someone here get advised to jump off a cliff on the first day or so of playing?

Penny Arcade has you covered.

https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2022/03/04

yes

<----

[hepcat]

And

Spoiler:

Godric goes down too. Now to do a little more exploring. I love that castle and need to find a few more things in it before moving on.

Also, found the trap chest folks mentioned earlier. Thankfully I’m leveled up enough it wasn’t a complete disaster. I was actually able to clear that cavern out and do a little mining of my own.

[Harkonis]

Running multiplayer code Harkonis if anyone on xbox wants to coop.

[Scuzz]

And

Spoiler:

Godric goes down too. Now to do a little more exploring. I love that castle and need to find a few more things in it before moving on.

Also, found the trap chest folks mentioned earlier. Thankfully I’m leveled up enough it wasn’t a complete disaster. I was actually able to clear that cavern out and do a little mining of my own.

Congrats. I have tried him a few times and his second phase really burned me.

[stimpy]

Havent taken on any bosses yet, but I did take down the troll at the Castle Gatefront.
Is that something? Can I gleam any hope that I'm ready to get more daring with the big bads?

[hepcat]

Did you do it while naked and using just your bare fists? THAT’S a real Souls player.

[stimpy]

Did you do it while naked and using just your bare fists? THAT’S a real Souls player.

Yes, I was naked, but my character was fully armored.

[hepcat]

[Scuzz]

Did you do it while naked and using just your bare fists? THAT’S a real Souls player.

Yes, I was naked, but my character was fully armored.

So I am not the only one who plays that way.

[Smoove_B]

Well, I did a thing. Trying anything for that sweet dopamine rush at this point.

[Octavious]

Good luck. We're all counting on you. I'm almost done with my first playthrough. There were two bosses that made me want to stab things otherwise it's not that bad.

[coopasonic]

Speaking of doing things, that piece of crap Godrick is dead. A +5 Jellyfish, +5 sword and NPC helper made it relatively simple. I really wish I had gone Dex. Like every weapon I pick up that I want to use is Dex based and here I sit with 16 Dex and like 30 Str.

I still hate the game, but for some reason I keep playing. I want to enjoy it and sometimes I do, but mostly I'm annoyed and not by the dying. It's the freaking terrible "quests" and lore. Figuring anything out is basically impossible without the wiki and it's annoying.

[hepcat]

I still can see nothing even remotely related to a George RR Martin “story” in this game.

I suspect the pitch meeting went thusly:

George: I feel the game should have….swords?

Marketing: GENIUS, GEORGE!

George: And a horse?

Marketing: Where do you come up with this stuff, George!?

George: Oh, and an enemy or two to fight!

Marketing: We need to take five so I can call the police….BECAUSE YOU’RE MURDERING THIS, GEORGE!

George: Can I get paid in gold bars with my face on them?

Marketing: Already waiting for you in a bag in the lobby, George.

Side note:

Spoiler:

When the character that sits on the bed at the Table of Lost Grace offers to hold you, does anyone know what button you use to “motorboat”?

Edit:

Good luck. We're all counting on you. I'm almost done with my first playthrough. There were two bosses that made me want to stab things otherwise it's not that bad.

Jesus, seriously?? I’m like 15 hours into the game and I’m STILL finding new stuff in the damn starting area alone. This is going to be a 100 hour affair at least for me.

[Octavious]

I don't want to say how many hours I have. Let's just say it's a lot and leave it at that.

[Isgrimnur]

[coopasonic]

Good luck. We're all counting on you. I'm almost done with my first playthrough. There were two bosses that made me want to stab things otherwise it's not that bad.

Jesus, seriously?? I’m like 15 hours into the game and I’m STILL finding new stuff in the damn starting area alone. This is going to be a 100 hour affair at least for me.

There are TWENTY-NINE bosses in Limgrave (the starting area) alone.

[coopasonic]

I don't want to say how many hours I have. Let's just say it's a lot and leave it at that.

No, no, you need to say it. I just finished spending ~73 hours on Horizon Forbidden West and I need to feel better about myself (or worse, whatever, I'll take it). I'm also curious on your level at the end.

[stimpy]

I'm at 70 hours and havent even got past Castleward Tunnel or Margit yet.
How do you upgrade the jellyfish?

[Smoove_B]

Absolutely no idea what is happening in this game, but it sure is beautiful. Lots of advice to "touch my but hole", which is helpful...I guess?

[hepcat]

Don’t worry too much about a story. The Souls games are basically just a collection of grotesque, gothic creatures and NPCs who like to lean against walls and wait for you to visit them. There’s a story supposedly there….somewhere, but I’ll be damned if I’ve ever found a coherent one.

Just explore, collect gold tinged excrement, fight giants, collect magic grease, and look for people leaning up against walls.

Go check out a guide on weapons and stats though. The weapons all scale up with a stat or two, but the ranking system they use to tell you that sucks gold tinged excrement.

[coopasonic]

I'm at 70 hours and havent even got past Castleward Tunnel or Margit yet.
How do you upgrade the jellyfish?

Spoiler:

You'll need to get Roderika from Stormhill Shack to the Roundtable and then talk to her and the blacksmith back and forth a few times, then she will sit across from the blacksmith and perform the upgrades.

You may need to defeat Margit before you can do this and you may need to do something about the chrysalids she asks about, not 100% on those. This game is cryptic as hell. Eventually she just showed up in the main hub for me.

[coopasonic]

Go check out a guide on weapons and stats though. The weapons all scale up with a stat or two, but the ranking system they use to tell you that sucks gold tinged excrement.

For the true dark souls n00b:

[stimpy]

Personally, I was well aware of the Souls games after dying many, many times in the first game and giving up.
I bought this because I read that it was a more accessible Souls game.
Fuck the guy who wrote that.

[hepcat]

I think that’s an apt description. It is much more accessible than previous entries in the series thanks to the emphasis on exploration. But it’s still a Souls game.

[Eel Snave]

I picked this up today and I'm getting my ass kicked. Apparently I was supposed to get Torrent and I visited the point of grace where I was supposed to get him and nothing ever happened?

My wife keeps looking at me and wondering if I'm enjoying it or not and the answer is, "I think?"

[Scuzz]

I picked this up today and I'm getting my ass kicked. Apparently I was supposed to get Torrent and I visited the point of grace where I was supposed to get him and nothing ever happened?

My wife keeps looking at me and wondering if I'm enjoying it or not and the answer is, "I think?"

It’s not a place, but after a certain point in time.